


A Good Actor

by 11JJ11



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Identity Reveal, LadyNoir - Freeform, One Shot, Romance, adrienette - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:27:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23179948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/11JJ11/pseuds/11JJ11
Summary: To avoid auditioning for the role of Ladybug, Marinette finds herself trying out as Chat Noir for a school performance. It’s just her luck that she’s trying out with Adrien, who she can barely get a sentence out around. So when she’s told to improv the heroes’ patrol night she does the easiest thing– and repeats exactly what Chat Noir said to her on patrol last night.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 91
Kudos: 1799
Collections: Miraculous, Miraculous Ladybug and Cat/Chat Noir Reveal





	A Good Actor

“Y-you want me to what?” Marinette cried, taking a step back, staring at Alya with wide eyes.

“I want you to play Ladybug for the school performance!” Alya said, holding up the poster excitedly. “Every class needs to send in a video of two students to audition for the role of Ladybug and Chat Noir, and just about everyone in our class agreed that you’d be the perfect Ladybug!”

“Hahaha, me? Perfect Ladybug? What are you talking about we’re nothing alike,” Marinette said hastily. “I’d just trip across the stage and get tangled up in the yoyo string if I tried it, you know me!”

“For once I actually agree with Dupain-Cheng,” Chloe piped up from the other side of the room, arms crossed. “I would be a much better Ladybug than she would ever be!”

Alya ignored her, pressing closer with a smile. “Yes you, girl! Who better than our ‘everyday Ladybug’? I saw you dressed up for Clara Nightingale’s video, and you pulled off Ladybug’s costume so well. And sure you can be a bit clumsy sometimes, but that doesn’t mean a thing. Remember when we were shooting that school film and you were going to step in as an actor? You were doing awesomely!”

“B-but wouldn’t you be a better Ladybug?” Marinette stuttered out. “I mean you run her blog, you probably know the most about her, you’d pull off Ladybug perfectly! You’re her number one fan!”

Alya grinned. “Also, did I mention that we’re going to have Adrien play Chat Noir? That’d mean you’d get to play a role where Adrien’s flirting with you, and even if you guys aren’t chosen as the final actors you’d get to spend some time with him...”

Marinette was mad that this made her pause for a moment– because that was _not_ how she was supposed to act as a superhero. Rule number one was to protect her identity, and everything else comes after that. She already had put herself in a role where she had almost been fully dressed up as Ladybug before, and she was not going to do that again. Even if it meant working with Adrien.

“Ha! I knew that would change your mind!” Alya said triumphantly, taking her pause as a yes. She grabbed Marinette by her arm, dragging her away. “We got our Ladybug!”

“Wait Alya, I didn’t say–!” Marinette began, only to be cut off by Adrien on the other side of the room.

“You want _me_ to play Chat Noir?” He asked, looking quite startled at the idea.

“Well, yeah dude,” Nino said with a grin. “I mean, you were his voice actor for the movie, right? You look kinda like him too... ‘cause you know, blond hair and all? Even _the_ Clara Nightingale wanted you to play Chat Noir in her music video. Who would be better in the class?”

“I mean, I don’t know, you know I probably wouldn’t have time to do it, with my schedule and all–”

“But you have time today, you’re here after all, and just about everything else will be done during school hours,” Nino countered, still grinning. “So we could film the audition today and submit to the school, and if you guys make it then the rest would be during school.”

“I–”

“Marinette is going to be playing Ladybug for our class audition,” Alya said happily as they pulled up near the boys. She pushed Marinette forward, who was stiff. “You guys work so well together, won’t it be perfect?”

“Alya I–”

Adrien gave a small smile. “I think Marinette is an awesome choice, but I don’t think I will be able to do this. I don’t want to disappoint, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to step down.”

“Come on dude!” Nino begged. “There’s no one else in the class that can pull off a better Chat Noir.”

Marinette crossed her arms. “I’ve seen the call for auditions– they specifically stated that looks don’t matter at all for this, it all comes down to acting skills. You don’t need me and Adrien just because we happen to have the same hair color as the heroes. There’s other people that can do it better, so choose them.”

“Adrien has the most experience with acting though!” Rose piped up.

“And I’ve run the statistics, and out of all the females in the class Marinette would be the most suitable candidate for acting,” Max remarked.

“We–” Adrien began, but he was cut off by their class.

“You would be awesome, man,” Kim said, leaning over his desk. “Both of you, just give it a try?”

“Neither of you would mess up on stage,” Mylene said softly.

Ivan nodded. “It wouldn’t hurt to at least try, right?”

“You owe me girl,” Alya reminded Marinette. “And I’m cashing in right now– you need to try out for this audition. This would be an awesome chance for you!”

Marinette swallowed, barely noticing as she bumped up against Adrien, slightly startled at how adamant her class was on it being them to audition. Of course they didn’t realize what pressure they were putting on her, if anything they were just trying to work up her courage, not realizing just what could be at stake if she were to do this. She nervously looked up at Adrien, who surprisingly looked just as worried about this as she did. He glanced at her, offering a nervous smile, but also seemed to be quietly asking for her help as well. Of course he had enough pressure on him from his family, and pushing his schedule probably never went over well for him.

“Guys,” Marinette said, trying to make herself heard over the clamor of encouragement. “I don’t want to play Ladybug in this. I’m flattered that you think I’d do such a good job... but I don’t feel the same.”

“It’s just an audition,” Alix said. “Come on, would it hurt to give it a shot?”

Marinette swallowed, they weren’t going to let this go, were they? She closed her eyes, mind racing. She could feel Tikki pressing up against her through her purse. Once again her class began reassuring her that she would do an awesome job, to at least give it a shot. That there would be so many auditions that it would be unlikely that she would be chosen anyways. Ideas raced through her mind, trying to find some solution.

“Fine!” she suddenly cried, and she felt Tikki stiffen up. “I’ll do the audition!”

“Woo!” Alya cheered, and the class was grinning. “We got our Ladybug.”

“Wait–” Marinette said hastily, holding out her hands. “I’ll do the audition– but I don’t want the role of Ladybug. I want to try out for Chat Noir.”

Everyone stared at her.

She scratched the back of her head. “He’s my favorite of the two heroes, and I think I’d be more comfortable doing all this if I was trying out for his role, you know? Besides, the flier said this was going to be more focused on talent than anything else so why not...?”

“Besides!” Adrien suddenly interrupted, throwing himself into the conversation. “I’d love to try out as Ladybug! I think I would have a lot more fun with that role anyways, she’s awesome!”

“Well, um, I don’t see anything wrong with that, you are like her biggest fan,” Nino said with a shrug. “You’re both awesome actors, I think you could pull off any role.” 

“But it would be so perfect the other way,” Alya muttered. “I still have pictures from Clara’s music video auditions, you were both so cute...” Nino nudged her, and she smiled. “But whatever you guys are most comfortable with doing– I know you two are going to be awesome!”

She winked at Marinette, who flushed slightly. She didn’t know why Adrien now seemed willing with the role swap, since he had acted like his tight schedule was the issue before– yet now he seemed much more relaxed. Maybe he was tired of always being dragged into the role as Chat Noir? It seemed to happen so often with him, so it was no wonder he wanted to play Ladybug...

That’s when it hit Marinette. Adrien was going to be auditioning for the role of Ladybug. _He_ was going to be acting as _her._ And if she was going to be playing the role as flirty Chat Noir that would mean that she would be flirting with Adrien.

Suddenly the room seemed a lot warmer, a pink blush spreading across her cheeks. No one said a word as she and Adrien were dragged towards the front of the classroom. Nino had his phone out to record the audition, while Alya was looking over the requirements one last time.

The next thing Marinette knew she was positioned across from Adrien, a plastic Chat Noir mask being pressed onto her face. It was far from comfortable– the mask the Miraculouses provided always seamlessly sat on her face, not obstructing her vision nor poking into her skin. She had to adjust this fake one several times, the elastic that held it into place digging into the sides of her head.

Adrien had a Ladybug mask on, fidgeting with it himself, shooting her a hesitant smile. She smiled back, knees feeling weak seeing him with her signature colors on him. In fact if you messed up his hair a bit he could probably pull off a Mister Bug costume– but she was sure the last thing he wanted was to be compared to Chat Noir if that had been what made him uncomfortable about all this in the first place.

“Okay!” Alya said, scrolling through the school website on her phone, holding the audition flier in the other hand. “No costumes are needed for the auditions, I just want to help you guys to be in character. Minimal props are allowed, and we just need to send in a two-to-three minute video of the two actors doing an improv performance of any scenario involving the heroes. ‘We’re looking for actors that can naturally fall into the role’, blah blah blah, ‘no script of any kind is needed to be followed for the audition’, blah blah, ‘only one video submission per class’... and I think that’s everything!”

“Here,” Juleka said, holding out two objects for them to take. “For props.”

Marinette was given a long cardboard tube, and considering the fact that Adrien was handed a yoyo it was probably supposed to represent Chat Noir’s baton. She had to stiffen a laugh, the image of a cardboard-covered Chat Noir leaping into battle popping into her mind. She didn’t know why, but it definitely seemed like something he would do.

“Okay!” Alya said excitedly, grinning at them. “Just relax, we can do as many takes as you guys want. Sure it’s supposed to be improv, but the beauty of video auditions is that we can just send in our best one.”

Adrien laughed, rubbing at the back of his neck. “So then, what scenario do you want us in then?”

He had looped the yoyo around a finger, but it was quite clear he didn’t have much experience with the toy. The yoyo only came back to his hand once before losing momentum, and he had to wind it up. Marinette tried to avoid yoyos for the most part, mostly because she had become very skilled with them both in and out of the mask. Also she found regular yoyos to be very boring– no endless string and it doesn’t function as a grappling hook? Where’s the fun in that?

“An akuma battle!” Kim said eagerly. 

“And what are we supposed to do? Have them jump around the room fighting a non-existent monster?” Alix rolled her eyes.

“They need a speaking role– something to show how amazing they are!” Rose said happily, beaming at them.

Alya grinned. “Okay, I got it– you two are meeting up for a nightly patrol, okay? Marinette, go off screen for a moment, because Ladybug would definitely be the more punctual of the two... perfect!”

“Actually–” Adrien began, before stopping.

Chat Noir was actually the more punctual one of the two– he tended to arrive early on patrol nights and on time for anything else, while she ran late as both Marinette and Ladybug. The only time Chat was late was when he was busy with his civilian life– meaning he was still being punctual in that part of his life.

“How should we start?” Marinette asked uncertainly, stepping back as Nino held up his phone to record.

“Your choice girl, just be Chat Noir,” Alya sat up. “Okay, everyone quiet... and go!”

With that Nino started recording. Adrien stiffened up for a moment, before leaning up against the desk, looking over to Marinette. Improv or not she had no idea what she should be doing, and she closed her eyes for a moment. Patrol... she went on patrol every week, this shouldn’t be a problem. She just needed to do as Chat Noir did, and no one knew him better than she did.

She had literally been on patrol with him last night, this would be easy.

So Marinette sat up, putting on her best Chat-grin, and sauntered onto the camera. She twirled her ‘baton’ the best she could with her hands, before slamming the tip onto the ground and leaning against it like she had seen Chat Noir do so many times before. Her heart was hammering, considering the fact that she was smirking slyly at _Adrien,_ but she reminded herself to just play her part.

“Hey there Bugaboo,” she said as smoothly as she could. “Tonight is purr-fect, isn’t it? Absolutely mew-velous, just like you.”

She couldn’t help but let her grin widen– saying the exact same thing Chat Noir had said to her last night. Adrien stared at her for a moment, blinking once, and she decided that he was adorable in his little Ladybug mask. He looked surprised, probably because she wasn’t a stuttering mess, before composing himself. He crossed his arms, rolling his eyes.

“Really, Kitty?” He asked in what seemed to be an attempt to mimic Ladybug’s voice. “Can’t we have just one patrol without your puns?”

Huh. That had been basically the exact same thing she had said in reply to Chat Noir last night. That made her feel warm, the fact that Adrien understood Ladybug that well. Nino had said he was a fan, but still.

“No puns, My Lady?” Marinette replied, once again echoing her and Chat’s conversation from last night, and she put her hand on her chest in mock-offense. “But that would be so claw-ful. A cat-astrophe! Purr-haps you need to reconsider just how pun-derful my puns are.”

Adrien struggled against a laugh as she rattled off her cat puns, and she hated the fact that they came to mind so easily. Thank goodness Chat Noir wasn’t here to watch her now, because she knew that he would never let her live this down. Mimicking him and making puns? He would probably think he was in heaven.

“I will not hesitate to push you off of this building,” Adrien replied with a huff, crossing his arms just a bit more dramatically than she had when she had said this last night. “Now, I’m going to patrol the east side, you take the west and–”

“Meow-ch!” She cut him off without a second thought, because that was what he had done to her last night when she had tried to divide up patrols. “Separate patrols _again_? I would think that you’re trying to avoid me, but considering how many messages you left me last night–”

“I was worried about you, you stupid cat!” This time Adrien cut her off. “You took several hits for me with that akuma yesterday– then left as soon as the battle was over! I just wanted to make sure you were okay!”

“My Lady was worried about me!” Marinette swooned, clasping her hands together– but had to swiftly grab the cardboard tube before it fell over, because unlike Chat’s actual baton it couldn’t shrink down. “Your Miraculous Ladybugs did heal me up, but I have to say I am still a little sore...” she held out one hand, smiling slightly. “Kiss it better, Bugaboo?”

On the outside Marinette was flawlessly playing her role, but on the inside she was panicking. She was calling _Adrien_ Bugaboo! She had just asked him to kiss her hand! Audition or not she was still freaking out... but that wasn’t the only reason. She had just used what had happened on patrol last night as a starting point for this improv shoot, yet somehow the conversation was going exactly how it had gone last night– and she had no idea what that meant.

Adrien was watching her with wide eyes for a moment– was there something on her face? Did he think she was weird? Was she making him uncomfortable? She didn’t have time to question him further as he slipped back into character, rolling his eyes and pushing her hand away. He attempted to spin her yoyo about a few times, though it didn’t go too well so he stopped.

“Such a needy kitty,” he said as he turned away. “We can patrol together if you want to so badly– but if you call me Bugaboo again I’m throwing you into the Seine.”

Alarms were going off in Marinette’s mind at this point– because that had been exactly what she had said, nearly word for word. She had given Chat Noir that same threat last night, she had turned away in the same way, she had been spinning her yoyo about– had Adrien been spying on them or something?!

“Must you wound me, My Lady? Purr-haps you should reconsider.”

Adrien let out a dramatic sigh. “You already used that one tonight, Kitty.”

Marinette had stiffened up, and was now staring at Adrien in shock. There was only so much that could be a coincidence, and this had now reached far past that. Her mouth was dry, knowing that what she said next would either confirm or deny the racing possibilities in her mind, because she could only think of one reason on why Adrien could parrot her conversation from last night so perfectly.

“W-well,” Marinette stuttered. “I think you should appreciate my puns more, even P-plagg likes them.”

This time Adrien stiffened up, having gone still. He didn’t say anything for a moment, before slowly turning around, watching her closely. He opened his mouth, about to say something, then paused. She swallowed, and then he spoke again, each word said with some hesitation.

“Well... Tikki says Plagg has no taste,” he replied slowly, and Marinette’s world came crashing down as he said her kwami’s name. She took a step back, face pale as she stared at Adrien. The audition was long forgotten, Alya’s wave at her for her to continue having gone unnoticed. She just stared at her crush and partner, mouth part way open.

“Ohmygosh!” She blurted out, hands going to her mouth. “Oh my gosh, n-no, this isn’t– you can’t– you’re not–”

Adrien was staring at her with awe, like he had never seen her before. She paid no heed to the confused looks her classmates were giving her, taking a step back from Adrien. He reached out, hesitating, looking stunned– but he had a huge smile on his face.

“Can I just say you make a fabulous Chat Noir?” Adrien said with a grin.

“Shut up!” She cried, voice muffled by her hands.

“You just pull him off so purr-fectly,” he continued. “Anyone else would have done a claw-ful job, but you just captured his essence–”

_“I will throw you into the Seine!”_ She shouted, being fueled by nothing but panic.

“Cut!” Nino called, pausing the recording. “What happened, dudes? The first half was going perfectly.”

“Purr-fectly,” Adrien whispered under his breath, a gleeful smile on his face, and Marinette reflexively chucked the cardboard tube at him.

Adrien stepsided with ease, winking at her, and she felt herself turning red.

“Hey Nino, could you send me a copy of that take?”

“No!” Marinette yelped. “Nino, no! I will sic Alya on you! Don't you dare!”

“I'll do whatever you want, just save it!” Adrien called, arm wrapping around her waist as she sprang towards Nino’s phone, holding her back. “I need it for the memory!”

“I will sic Alya on you too, Agreste!” 

“...What is happening?” Alya whispered, and the rest of the class seemed to echo that sentiment.

Adrien seemed to gain the upper hand as he scooped Marinette up in his arms, causing her to let out a startled squeal, turning bright red. She most definitely wasn't protesting as she looked up at Adrien, but the startling thing was that Adrien was doing it in the first place. He seemed surprised by her reaction, but was grinning.

“Wipe that smirk off your stupidly handsome face!”

_“Handsome_ face, you say?”

“I will tie you to the Eiffel Tower and leave you there all night!”

“As long as you're there~”

“Shut up, Agreste!” Marinette snarled, punching his shoulder, which only made him laugh.

He leaned in close, still cradling Marinette in his arms. He was smirking, a gleam in his eyes as he leaned in close.

“Make me, little lady.”

Marinette, who somehow had gone even redder, glared up at him. She reached up, grabbed the sides of his face, and pulled his lips down into hers. The whole class exploded as she did so, Adrien stiffening up as they kissed.

It only lasted for a moment, and then instantly Adrien melted into the kiss. He pulled her in closer, his grip on her shifting. One hand found the center of her back, the other supporting the rest of her as they kissed. Part of Marinette was panicking– because _Adrien_ – but the rest of her now recognized him as her partner.

Chaton. Dork. Trustworthy. Safety. There was no reason to panic, but plenty to keep kissing.

They were breathing heavily as they pulled apart, resting their foreheads together. His smirks from before were gone, his gaze nothing but soft, joy pouring from him.

“Oh kwamis,” he whispered, his warm breath on her face. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she murmured, and she felt a purr building up in his throat.

“Say it again?”

She gave a small smirk. “How about you kiss me again?”

He grabbed her chin, and did just that.

**Author's Note:**

> [Find me on tumblr! (Graaythekwami)](https://graaythekwami.tumblr.com/)


End file.
